Genesis merely tells two stories

A lot of people talk about the inerrancy of the bible, because frankly the bible is full of superficially contradicting statements.

I would like to propose a context - if you will - of why this is so and why we should interpret the bible in a figurative and spiritual sense. I am not of the persuasion that the literal statements made in the bible are absolutes, because there are so many contradictory statements made in the text that only a fool would take the words to mean everything they mean at face value. It is my conclusion the bible is written both figuratively and literally. What we gather from its reading literally cannot and will never make sense when taken as a whole (meaning take everything it says within the whole context), because of its mixed messages. This complements the concept that salvation is the reward of faith, in that the physical word of God cannot even be used to support ones belief in God, because it would destroy faith, which is believing in something you cannot see. (In this interpretation, what you cannot see is figurative for also meaning what you cannot prove.)

With this, I am lead to believe that the figurative language used has a greater meaning to the spiritual seeker than the words as they appear.



Here is Genesis 1:24-27

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds:
livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its
kind." And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their
kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God
saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over
the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth,
and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

And here is Genesis 2:15-20

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of
it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat
of it you will surely die."
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper
suitable for him."
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the
birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever
the man called each living creature, that was its name.
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of
the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

NIV versions

Here we have two creation stories. Some propose that the Chapter 2 Genesis account is merely a more detailed story of the creation of man, which means that story #2 is just a part of story #1, which still contradicts the other.

I think that one story is literal and one is figurative, with the Genesis 1 story being the literal story which agrees with Evolutionists and the old earth theory. Story 2 is the spiritual story. It is meant for the spiritual man and those who have faith and can fathom spiritual concepts of animal and woman coming after man. I think with the proper understanding, the creationist theory should be placed in its proper perspective along with the evolution theory.

Give to Ceasar what is Ceasars and give to God what is God's. The two exist in the same plane, but deserve different reasoning. They each have their place, but should not be confused with the other.

ben, you're right on 1 thing, there are two stories. but the first story in genesis does NOT jive with evolutionary theory in ANY WAY. unless you can support that it is.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
ben, you're right on 1 thing, there are two stories. but the first story in genesis does NOT jive with evolutionary theory in ANY WAY. unless you can support that it is.

Generally, story 1 is creating the universe, the planets, the earth and terraforming, then plants. Then it goes on with the account of creating animals before man. I think that is a failry simplistic version of evolution and the how the earth was formed according to scientific theory. Of course, Gen 1 is not intended to be a textbook for the entire process, that sums up the evolutionary theory quite well, while Gen 2 does not.

I see what you mean. I do not support the theory of evolution but I also believe if evolution really did happen then it was under the control of GOD. Which I guess combines the 2.

Originally posted by ben91069
Some propose that the Chapter 2 Genesis account is merely a more detailed story of the creation of man, which means that story #2 is just a part of story #1, which still contradicts the other.

Another possibility is that Genesis 2 is simply a chronological continuation of Genesis 1, which eliminates the contradictions. God created "Neanderthals" on the Sixth Day as recorded in Genesis 1. Note that there's nothing about a Garden of Eden in Chapter 1, and nothing about not being able to eat the fruit of certain trees. In Chapter 2, God creates Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden and gave them some simple rules. Their main mission was to teach and train the Neanderthals, which they did until they fell. The fall was hundreds of years after Adam & Eve appeared on the planet. After Cain killed Abel, the Bible says he fled to the Land of Nod and took a wife. Where did that civilization come from??? Well, it was a Neanderthal society, which also explains how Cain took a wife without having to marry his sister.

Originally posted by ben91069
Generally, story 1 is creating the universe, the planets, the earth and terraforming, then plants. Then it goes on with the account of creating animals before man. I think that is a failry simplistic version of evolution and the how the earth was formed according to scientific theory. Of course, Gen 1 is not intended to be a textbook for the entire process, that sums up the evolutionary theory quite well, while Gen 2 does not.

genesis 1 directly conficts with science. the earth is created before light and the stars, birds and whales come before reptiles and insects, and flowering plants come before any animals

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
genesis 1 directly conficts with science. the earth is created before light and the stars, birds and whales come before reptiles and insects, and flowering plants come before any animals

I would disagree madness. I read through Gen 1 again to see if you have something and my conclusion is no. Days 1-4 talks about the creation of what we know of the universe, including our solar system and heavenly bodies.

You get to the 5th day and it describes the animal making order.

It begins with saying "Let the waters bring forth the moving creature which has life and fowl that may fly above the air." The very first sentence gives the origins of physical life on earth as coming from water, it includes life that is on the ground, in the air, or in the sea.

The next verse is your obvious hang up, as was mine when I first studied your argument:

Gen 1:21
And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

First, let me say that it complements the preceding verse which says that life began from water, but with one added note - the whales. The quote is from the KJV and the word "whales" is actually translated from the original text to be meaning:

H8577
a marine or land monster, that is, sea serpent or jackal: - dragon, sea-monster, serpent, whale.

Source: Strongs Concordinance

It isn't entirely accurate that the KJV reads it as whales, and is why you are thinking it is literally saying God made whales with the birds before all other creatures. It is saying the origins of physical life began in the water and I personally believe that Strongs #H8577 is meaning the reptiles and what we know of as being the dinosaurs.
The verses following this goes on to explain the progression of mammals.

I think this is in complete agreement with the theory of evolution, except that the dating is not to be taken as literal, in my opinion.